--- title: "F5 HSL" slug: "f5-hsl" description: "Integrate and monitor F5 High-Speed Logging (HSL) with Traceable AI. This topic covers step-by-step instructions for configuring F5 HSL iRules, creating virtual servers, and setting up the Traceable Platform agent. Learn to capture and analyze high-volume log data for enhanced network security and performance." updated: 2025-07-18T07:57:36Z published: 2025-07-18T07:57:36Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://traceabledocs.document360.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # F5 HSL HSL stands for High-Speed Logging, a feature commonly associated with networking and security appliances like F5 Networks' products. High-speed logging refers to the capability of these appliances to capture and record large volumes of data at high speeds. This data typically includes network traffic, system events, security logs, and other relevant information for analysis, troubleshooting, and compliance purposes. Traceable captures F5’s HSL data through the Traceable Platform agent and sends it to Traceable’s Platform for further processing. Following is a high-level data flow diagram. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_irule_diagram.png) Following is a high-level explanation of the data flow through F5 HSL: 1. The request passes through F5 HSL iRule. Traceable captures the request data and stores it. 2. The request is sent to the backend application. 3. The response is sent back, and Traceable captures it. 4. Requests and responses are sent to the Traceable Platform agent in a single request. 5. The response from the backend application is sent back to the client. --- ## Before you begin Make a note of the following points before you proceed with the configurations: - Make sure that you have the correct privileges in F5 for administrative tasks like creating pools and working with iRule. - Download the iRule from Traceable’s download site. Navigate to **agent** → **f5** → **hsl** → **latest**. - Log in to your Traceable Platform account and generate a token. You can obtain a token by completing the following steps: 1. Log in to your Traceable account. 2. Navigate to **Settings**(![image-1638268402925](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/image-1638268402925.png)) → **Account →** **Agent Tokens**. 3. Click on **Generate Token**. Make sure to copy and save the generated token, as you cannot access it again. You can only edit or delete the name of the token. This token is used in the steps detailed below. If this token is deleted from Traceable Platform (UI), the communication between Traceable Platform agent and Traceable Platform (UI) will break. In such a case, generate and update a new token in the Platform agent. ![traceable_generate_authentication_token](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_generate_authentication_token(2).png) --- ## Configuration Setting up F5 HSL is composed of the following steps: - Setting up a Traceable Platform agent with `hsl_listener`. - F5 HSL setup. - Create pools for the Traceable Platform agent and the application. ### Step 1 — Setup Traceable Platform agent You need to set up the Traceable Platform agent on a VM with `hsl_listner`. You can do this either by editing the Platform agent configuration or using the installation script. For more information on installing the Platform agent on a VM using the installation script, see [Install on VM](/docs/installation-using-script). #### Option 1 — Install by editing Platform agent configuration Edit the `config.yaml` file to configure `hsl_listner`. Set the following: ```yaml global:  hsl_server:  enabled: false # set to true  endpoint: "0.0.0.0:8443"  key_file: "/path/to/key.pem"  cert_file: "/path/to/cert.pem"  max_queue_size: 1000 ``` > [!NOTE] > Important > > - Provide path to Key and Cert in `config.yaml` in order to setup HSL server over TLS. > - If you do not wish use TLS between F5 and Traceable Platform agent, then leave the `key_file` and `cert_file` fields empty. In this case skip steps 3 and 4 and directly use pool that will be created in step 2 in iRule (step 5). #### Option 2 — Use install.sh script You can also use the install.sh script to install the Traceable Platform agent. Follow the instructions to download the [installation](https://docs.traceable.ai/docs/installation-using-script#download) script. Enter the following command to install the Platform agent with `hsl_listener`. Make sure that you have the path to the public and private key, the name for your environment, the service name, and the Platform token you generated in the [Before you Begin](/v1/docs/f5-hsl#before-you-begin) section. ```plaintext sudo ./install.sh tpa-only -e -s --raw-token --hsl-enabled --hsl-tls-cert --hsl-tls-key ``` --- ## Step 2 — Create a Platform agent pool In your F5 setup, create a Platform agent pool and application pool. Complete the following steps: #### Create a Platform agent pool (tpa-pool) Complete the following steps to create a Platform agent pool: 1. In your F5 setup, navigate to **Local traffic** → **Pools** → **Pool list** and click on **Create**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step2_substep_1.png) 2. Provide the IP address of the Traceable Platform agent and port number as 8443. In Health Monitor section, select `tcp_half_open`. --- ## Step 3 — Create virtual servers for the Platform agent To create a virtual server for the Platform agent and application, navigate to **Local traffic** → **Virtual Servers** → **Virtual servers list**. Click on **Create**. #### Create a Platform agent virtual server (tpa-vip) Enter the IP address of the Traceable Platform agent VM with port number 8443. Under **Configuration** → **SSL Profile (Server)**section, select `serverssl`. Complete the following steps: 1. Provide any free IP address and port number. In the screenshot, port 8443 is provided. You can choose any other port number. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step_3_vs_tpa-vip.png) 2. In the **Configuration** section, set SSL Profile. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step4_create_tpa_virtual_server_ssl_profile.png) 3. Click on the **Resources**tab and select the Default pool as the Platform agent (tpa-pool) that you created in [Step 2](/v1/docs/f5-hsl#create-a-platform-agent-pool). ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step4_create_tpa_virtual_server_tpa_pool(2).png) --- ## Step 4 — Create a pool for the virtual server HSL iRule cannot directly connect to the virtual server, so you must create a pool that uses the virtual server as the backend. Complete the following steps to create a pool. For example, `tpa-vip-pool`: 1. In your F5 setup, navigate to **Local traffic** → **Pools** → **Pool list** and click **Create**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step2_substep_1.png) 2. Provide the IP address and the port number used in step 3 to create a virtual server. --- ## Step 5 **— Create an iRule** To create an iRule, navigate to **the Local Traffic → iRules**page****and click**Create** to create a new iRule. Provide a name and copy and paste the iRule that you downloaded from Traceable’s download site earlier. Provide the `hsl_pool` name and `service_name`. You can also use the default values. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step3_create_irule.png) --- ## Step 6 — Attach iRule to the application server Attach the iRule that you created as part of Step 5 to the application’s virtual server. Navigate to the **Resources**tab of the application virtual server and click on the**Manage**button under the **iRules**section. Select the iRule that you created earlier. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step5_add_irule_app_vs.png) The attached iRule is shown in the Resources tab of the application's virtual server. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_step5_irule_app_vs_attached(1).png) --- ## Verification To verify a successful setup, send traffic to your application. The traffic will show in the Traceable Platform, as shown below. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/24f14f07-13d1-4684-8fae-6d8f811768ee/Images/Documentation/traceable_f5_hsl_verification.png)